UNDP Jobs

UNDP’s work in supporting employment generation falls into the following categories. First, UNDP provides macroeconomic and sectoral advice to promote employment-led growth. Second, UNDP supports entrepreneurship development initiatives (mainly capacity development, training and business development services) to promote self-employment in micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises. Third, UNDP supports access to finance initiatives to encourage investment in these enterprises. Fourth, UNDP partners with agencies such as the International Labour Organization (ILO) to deliver vocational education and training programmes. Finally, UNDP supports temporary public employment guarantee schemes, for instance in response to crisis and shocks such as the recent economic and financial crisis or natural disasters.

At the centre of UNDP’s work is the realisation that the challenge is greater in term of generating employment for women. For instance, according to ILO’s Global Employment Trends, 2012, employment-to-population ratios are significantly lower for women. Another challenge is the increase in youth unemployment from 71 million in 2007 to 75 million currently.

The primary objective of the project is to develop policy relevant documents to improve UNDP’s policy advisory services on employment.

Within the overall vision and the work of the Poverty Practice, the consultants will be engaged in policy research and write background papers, around the themes identified below:

(a)    Possible employment related goals as a contribution to the discussion on post-2015 development agenda;

(b)   Policies to improve youth employment opportunities and quality of existing jobs;

(c)    Incentives and empowerment mechanisms to increase women’s participation in the labour market and policies to address specific barriers faced by women in accessing paid jobs;

(d)   how the perceived, and sometimes substantiated, low labour-intensity features of resource-based economies (oil, gas, mineral producers) can be tackled;

(f)     New thinking on the transmission mechanisms from jobs to poverty and inequality reduction; and

(g)    Current globalization trends and their impacts on generation of employment.

Depending on the themes selected and expertise of consultants, the policy research will focus on both a mix of cross country analyses and individual country case studies. The policy research will result in a background paper (about 30 pages) on each agreed theme, excluding annexes, drafted in English, in accordance with the priorities elaborated in the background section of this ToR.

The project will be conducted over 60 days between 15 August and 31 October 2012.

First payment (50%) will be made on satisfactory submission of the first draft of a background paper. Second payment will be made on satisfactory submission of the final draft of a background paper after incorporation of comments from the reviewers.

The consultants will report to the Economic Governance Advisor in the Poverty Group/Bureau for Development Policy (PG/BDP) and liaise with policy specialists in the Employment Team, PG/BDP for any queries and assistance on a day-to-day basis. The consultants are expected to incorporate comments and suggestions from Regional Bureaux, Regional Centers, ILO or other partner agencies and from other reviewers.

The consultants are expected to be development practitioners, who will apply to the consultancy their professional training, analytical skills and policy experience. They will work with a small team which strives to deliver high quality results. The following competencies are of critical importance. 

Research and policy advisory skills:

• Well-versed in poverty reduction policy and practice with solid knowledge of employment issues;
• Demonstrated policy research and publications; and
• Experience in providing advisory services to developing countries in areas related to poverty reduction and employment.

Communication, coordination and team skills:

• Excellent writing, presentation and communication skills;
• Proven experience in communicating effectively with different audiences ranging from academia, government partners,  international organizations, NGOs and others;
• Practical understanding of coordination and cooperation with multiple partners in a development context including within-UNDP and across the UN system; and
• Dedication to UN principles and demonstrated management abilities, including being able to work harmoniously with persons of different cultural backgrounds.

• A PhD degree in economics and/or development studies is required.

• Minimum 10 years of relevant work experience with proven research and publications record;
• Experience in the field in developing regions/countries is essential.

• Fluency in written and spoken English;
• Fluency in at least one other UN language is desirable.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.